“What if Mother remarried? Would you accept it?” “No way, are you crazy?” It was more of a nod than spoken words; a fast nodding “NAH”. Unthinkable. Despicable. Unacceptable. What was so insulting or sacred about it? (Nothing.) Did Mother not deserve to be happy? (Of course she did.) But the thought of having an outsider in the house was distressing. I didn’t think for a second (maybe because I couldn’t articulate it) about her happiness. It was not my mother’s style, I much later learned. But there was my optimistic sister taking a poll — and I guess she thought it’d be a fantastic idea to ask a 12-year-old…